Knockhill Racing Circuit is home to some great grassroots championships, including ModSports, the Scottish Fiesta ST’s, Super Lap Scotland, and notably home to the Scottish Legends – otherwise known as ‘Pocket Rockets’. Here is a review of four key people within the Scottish Legends scene, written by aspiring motorsport journalist Caitlin Gordon, and if this story inspires you to find out more and want to become involved, check-out their Facebook page then come along to the next race meeting on June 1st and 2nd and go and say hello to the team!
The championship has been racing in the UK since 1994 and throughout those years has produced some incredible on-track action making it hard to keep eyes off the track. In addition to the highly competitive and close battles on-track, off the track is no different with the Legends paddock buzzing with energy from individuals who all play pivotal roles within the Legends.
At the heart of the championship are a group of dedicated women who devote their time to support both drivers and teams, as well as boosting the championship and attracting new talent. The first of the women is Tracey Donald who has been contributing her expertise to the championship ever since 2013. Tracey has various roles which vary from weekend to weekend and range from promoting the Scottish Legends Championship, looking after the drivers, organising the ball draw and of course, keeping her husband Andrew in line who is the Championship Promoter and runs his own race team.
“The Legends drivers and families are so nice, we are very much a family-oriented series where a lot of the drivers bring their partners and children for the whole weekend. The Scottish Legends Cars workshop itself is the hub of ‘Legends’ everyone is in and out of here, it is such a friendly Championship which is what makes me like it so much.”
Aside from working with the Legends, Tracey works full-time for Knockhill in the Sales Department organising Driving Experience gift vouchers, corporate days, track days and Karting.
Working beside Tracey is another integral member of the Legends paddock, Zoe. She is a mechanic who has been working with the championship since 2023, through her extensive knowledge and past experience she is a crucial member ensuring the smooth running of Legends vehicles throughout the weekend.
Zoe joined the Legends in a unique way, coming in from Kendal in England, she initially attended Knockhill for a driving experience. However, what began as an exciting prospect to be behind the wheel and clock in some laps, ended up with Zoe landing a job within the Legends paddock, working for Andrew Donald on race weekends.
Zoe explained in her own words how the offer came about:
“I came for a Legend Experience and through that, I started chatting to Darryl and Harry about the cars and I mentioned I was a mechanic. Darryl said I should speak to Andrew, which I did, and I came for a trial weekend last year and since then haven’t left!”
“I’ve grown up with mechanic’s, my Grandad was a mechanic so I’ve always had the bug, when I finished school I went to the Motorsports college and since then it’s grown from there. I went to my local garage and started getting experience whilst I was in college before turning full-time.”
Whilst Tracey and Zoe work more trackside, Heather Barron plays a pivotal role behind the scenes as a championship coordinator for the Legends and is a part of race control for other championships – excluding the Legends.
Heather’s journey into motorsports started at a young age, accompanying her dad to Classic Sports and Saloons championship races where her father was a racer himself in the early 2010’s. Although her father eventually stepped back from racing, he continued his involvement with Knockhill becoming the circuit’s safety car driver before eventually landing the role of Chief Marshal in 2024.
Through attending races with her dad, Heather built up her knowledge of motorsports and started to give a helping hand during the race weekends, helping out in the assembly area before joining race control. After the former Legends coordinator retired last season it made for the perfect opportunity for Heather to expand on her expertise and try something new.
Now, Heather does a variety of roles throughout the weekend. When she isn’t working in race control, she helps with the morning ball draw for the Legends starting grid, coordinates the podium and prize giving and also supports any driver in need of help.
“I fancied something different, after doing race control for a couple of years I wanted to try something different. I’ve always enjoyed the Legends and the people in it, it’s a great bunch of people and I wanted to get more involved with it.”
Behind-the-scenes a lot of work goes on to ensure the championship can run every weekend, all that hard work from the mechanics and organisers can be seen on track when the 30 cars line up for the race. Amongst the 30 drivers is the talented No.15, Elby Clark. By profession, Elby is an estate agent but come the weekend she is a dedicated and hard-working driver on track.
She is an established racer with a vast amount of experience with racing, Elby has competed with the Legends for five seasons overall, two in the National Championship and three seasons in Scotland. Whilst most of her hard work can be seen on track, off the track she puts a considerable amount of time and effort into maintaining her own car and supporting her fellow drivers in the paddock:
“Throughout the weekend I try to maintain my car, putting fuel, checking tyre pressure, spanner checking. I am trying to learn as much on the mechanical side, I’ve been asking how to do things so I don’t get them done for me, I’ve got a great teacher who is my husband, Daniel who is amazing.”
“I really try to keep myself busy so I am always doing something to help out the team. If someone is struggling, I will go over and try to help them with their cars.”
Elby is a strong runner during the weekends, battling up at the top end of the field. During Saturday’s final race, Elby had a close and tight battle against Stuart McAndrew on the first lap, where she maintained 6th position before a caution was called, as the 10 laps continued to count down she was running in a strong 5th place, after an incredibly close race, Elby crossed the line in 6th place. Unfortunately, she encountered some bad luck during Sunday’s final when she had to retire her car after sustaining some damage.
After spending three years with the Scottish Legends, Elby expressed the connections she has gained from racing in the sport and the competitiveness is the reason she couldn’t see herself racing anywhere else:
“The Legends for me is the best racing as there are so many people competing and you are all so similar in speed. It means it is fair, the camaraderie and companionship with everyone here has become a huge racing family and they are all my friends. For that reason I don’t think I could do anything else.”
The Legends paddock radiates vibrant energy embodying the friendship and hard work which defines the championship. Within the championship, the women behind the scenes and on track contribute immensely to enhance the own scene and infuses the excitement throughout the paddock.
To find out more, follow them on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/scottishlegendscars/